Arthur is a Happy Boy

09 July 2009 Well, Arthur and Amy seemed to hit it off straight away and Amy came onto heat 3 days ago, and judging by the scratch marks on her back, Arthur has been regularly attempting to get a leg over. Let’s hope he was successful. As with his other servicing duties, we should get the pick of the litter. Not sure what we’ll do with the extra piglet but I’m sure we’ll be able to accommodate her for 4 months with one of the other girls. Aaron’s also worked out a breeding plan that will allow Arthur to be with a girl for most of the year. Hopefully a couple of months of carefree bachelorism each year will be nice for him. I really don’t want any more grumpy Arthur. As for Arthur’s new paddock. Arthur and Amy have done a fantastic job of churning the bottom half into almost knee-deep mud. It certainly makes feeding time interesting! Arthur’s new house seems to be working a treat. It’s lovely and dry and there are lovely big pig body indentations in the mound of wood chip flooring. Nice and cozy on these cold night’s I’m sure. My Tolerance Levels Are Tested Once again we have a full house of guests and the ‘To Do’ list is getting a few more ticks. After several days of texting back and forth and umming and ahhing on my part, French HelpXers Thomas and Prune arrived Friday night. I wasn’t sure what to expect as Thomas had been extremely eager for us to host them, to the point of making me slightly nervous.

What I discovered only after their arrival was that only Thomas spoke English, Prune was extremely ill with flu and she also has a fatal allergy to shellfish. The language barrier I could cope with but I completely freaked out (mentally) about the other two. I was assured Prune didn’t have swine flu but that wasn’t my concern. Any flu can be transmitted to the pigs, not to mention us. Then when I asked if Prune was carrying medication for possible anaphylactic shock Thomas said no but it would be fine if I made sure there was no seafood in any meal. “But Tom, the hospital is 45 minutes drive away” “Oh” he seemed surprised “Oh well, just don’t use any seafood” I suddenly felt quite stressed at the thought that I would have to ingredient check every label. It’s fair to say I did not cope well that first night. While I am doing my best to be a more tolerant and patient person, I still get upset when guests don’t forewarn us of issues that will have a direct impact on us as hosts. Saturday was still a little strained as Prune clearly needed to be tucked up in bed for several days, not out in the cold, wet weather. However, we had to show them around the farm and explain the various jobs. Prune was clearly miserable, both with illness and inability to communicate and unfortunately all I felt at that stage was annoyance. And so they helped with our Saturday tasks and then in the afternoon I drove into Kaiwaka to pick up Vicky from Hong Kong. The dogs had insisted on coming with me and she was greeted by an eager tongue licking from an excited, very wet and dirty Coppa. Welcome to the family! Saturday evening we all struggled to make conversation and I started to think I’d made a terrible mistake inviting these HelpXers into our home. And then Aaron told me he would be going to Jeff’s Sunday morning and would be back Monday night. I was furious, but there was nothing I could do. He was going, and that was that. Sunday morning, as Aaron collected his stuff ready to leave, I raced up and down the drive trying to organize the HelpXers. Because of the lack of English comprehension it’s not a small task to explain where to find this and how to do that. Everything has to be shown as well as explained and it’s easier for me to run around collecting tools, gloves, etc rather than try to explain. Within an hour I felt exhausted and profoundly irritated. However, eventually I got everyone sorted and the day passed rather quickly. In the evening I made dinner and as we sat around after dinner the conversation, though somewhat caught up in the language barrier, started to flow. We ended up having a good laugh about several things, including Prune’s ability to quickly learn mine and Aaron’s oft used swear words. Monday morning, as I was getting ready to rise, Aaron arrived home. The flu had hit him and he spent the next 3 days in bed. We were both rather annoyed by this turn of events. Aaron’s job is far too busy at the moment for him to be having sick time off and he could now not go near the pigs. With so many helpers this in theory shouldn’t be a problem, unfortunately all of them had decided, once they’d met our many piggies that, they were in fact way too scary to be in the same paddock with. Suddenly the number of jobs we could get our guests to do became quite limited. In fact it was even more limited for Prune, who upon finding out what jobs there were to do, had decided on Monday that she only wanted to do painting. Fortunately we had plenty of painting to do but this wasn’t quite the attitude I was expecting of someone who had decided to come stay on a farm. In fact, while Thomas was open to doing different jobs he wasn’t particularly motivated. Unlike Vicky, who is incredibly self-motivated and just gets stuck in. Tuesday night I arrived home to find dinner waiting for me. Tom and Prune had made pasta for dinner and crepes for dessert. Now that was more like it! After good food and a very relaxed evening Tom and Prune suggested Vicky make dinner the following evening. Wednesday evening I arrived home to the most divine smell of sweet and sour pork. Vicky had everything under control so I sat on the sofa with a glass of cider and put my feet up. And all was well for about 10 minutes and then I had this nagging thought creep into my mind. I went into the kitchen. “Vicky, did Tom tell you Prune is allergic to seafood?” “No” Vicky expressed surprise “Is there are any seafood in the dinner?” “No” “Did you use oyster sauce?” “Yes, in the sauce” “Did you know oyster sauce is seafood?” “No?” Vicky was very confused. I had to explain that oyster sauce was from shellfish and therefore seafood. Vicky was horrified. “Tom.” I said “There’s oyster sauce in the sweet and sour sauce” “Oh. Oh okay, well Prune can’t have any sauce then” He was so incredibly blasé about it that I seriously wondered just how bad her allergy was. I double checked with Vicky that there was no oyster sauce in anything else. She was acutely embarrassed by the whole situation and I hoped that when she said no, she was saying it because of Prune’s allergy and not because she didn’t want to upset me. I sat down again but it’s fair to say my nerves were slightly frayed. Then Tom asked me to confirm there was no seafood in the rest of the meal I told him to check. There was no way I was accepting the responsibility for Prune’s health. And so he asked, Vicky said no and then they sat down again. Dinner was served and Prune was pouting, clearly upset that she had no sauce for her meal. Then as we started to eat Prune suddenly stopped and said something to Tom. “Vicky, did you use different spoons for each pan?” Oh my God! Was he kidding??? How is it Prune’s allergy is so extreme that it never even occurred to them to tell Vicky not to use seafood? And then unbelievably they start asking about the serving spoons only after dinner’s been served. I was absolutely fuming. They’d embarrassed Vicky terribly and Prune spent the rest of the evening pouting. I wanted them to leave. My stress levels shot through the roof that evening. They are not inherently bad or horrible people but I can only describe it as like being in a house with a couple of 18 year olds. While they see themselves as very mature and worldly-wise they are in fact the complete opposite. In fact Aaron and I have ended up feeling more like they see us as a bed & breakfast than as HelpXchange hosts. Thursday while at work, I talked it over with Aaron. They had given us the impression they weren’t intending to leave and it worried us both. We agreed they could only stay the agreed week. Unfortunately neither of us knew how to raise the subject with them. Thursday night I got home from work and Vicky was busy making dinner again. It was an unexpected treat. I was all ready to relax but then Aaron said we had to go meet the new butcher and pick up some more pork. We went and met Bruce and what a lovely guy he is. I feel incredibly happy that our piglets are ending up at his place. After an hour we were back home to the delights of a very spicy spaghetti dish. Vicky had decided since it was such a cold night she would slosh in a large amount of chilli sauce. It tasted great but both Prune and I were left gasping for breath. Vicky had also made some fresh bread in the breadmaker. In fact, after showing her how to use it on Monday she had been making fresh bread every day. I was delighted. Not only did we get to try different breads but she was also providing cheap food for her and the Frenchies. By Thursday evening it was clear Vicky’s work ethic was a stark contrast to Tom and Prune’s. I was starting to feel resentful and the odd comment from Prune, while said in jest seemed to have some insult behind it. She took great delight in mimicking us and making jokes about our age, which while amusing to start with, started to seem quite disrespectful as the week progressed. And so as we sat and talked after dinner, Vicky very helpfully brought up the subject of her travels and that started the ball rolling. As we discussed her plans I asked Tom where they were headed next. “I don’t know. We haven’t actually thought about it” That was not what I had expected to hear. And then we heard footsteps outside and Carl suddenly appeared on the verandah. The opportunity was lost. I was gutted. Friday I stewed about it all day, and then when I talked it over with one of my colleagues she mentioned that some red wine has fish products in it. I was appalled. How often do I put a splash of red wine in something?! Aaron contacted me at work to tell me a huge storm was due to hit Northland Saturday. I swore. There was no way we could ask our guests to leave on Saturday. I ended up stewing about it some more until I came up with an idea which Aaron thought was as subtle as a lead balloon. I text Tom from work, along the lines of “Not sure what day you were planning on leaving this weekend but I wouldn’t suggest Saturday as there’s a big storm due to arrive.” I didn’t get a reply so Aaron was left to deal with it when he got home. They had clearly been shocked to receive the text. Were they really being asked to leave? Aaron explained that we only ever offer an initial week to guests and then we take it from there. He reiterated that they could stay Saturday and leave Sunday or Monday at the very latest. Saturday we waited for the big storm. It was wet and windy and we told our guests we didn’t expect them to do too much outdoor stuff. Fortunately the storm didn’t come as far south as Kaiwaka. Lyn and Pete turned up for a morning visit and Aaron skillfully managed to herd the Helpxers down to work in the shed so we could have a relaxing catch up. Sunday arrived and despite feeling mean, I hoped that Tom and Prune would pack up and leave. They didn’t of course. Sunday both Aaron and I were shattered. As we sat eating breakfast I said to Aaron I just couldn’t face doing any work. I just needed time to recharge my batteries. He felt much the same. Vicky got up early and after a leisurely breakfast with us started looking around for work to do. Tom and Prune had a long sleep in, rolling out of bed after 10. They also had a relaxed breakfast. I mentioned what types of jobs could be done for the day and as I read a book they fell asleep on the sofa. They seemed to have no intention of working while we sat relaxing. Neither Aaron or I want to be the type of hosts that order guests around, so at that point I felt my only option was to lead by example. Reluctantly I got up, got changed and went outside and cleaned the troughs. Tom and Prune started work about midday. After an hour they decided to stop for a 2 hour lunch break and then they went back out for a couple of hours. By that time I’d called it quits for the day and they did too. Come Monday morning Aaron left for work, and as the morning progressed I was feeling quite agitated. I got the distinct impression Tom and Prune were hoping I’d extend their stay.

The Dogs Turn Nasty The dogs were in a foul mood that morning and as I played with the piglets outside the shed the dogs started a particularly vicious fight in front of me. As per usual I grabbed Coppa and yelled at Whisky to stop. Both dogs were in no mood to listen or stop and as I struggled to separate them Whisky leapt at Coppa and sank a tooth into my wrist. I dragged Coppa into the shed and slammed the door. My wrist was bleeding but I needed to sort out the dogs first. I ran Whisky up the hill and shut him in his run and then did the same to Coppa. I got my wrist cleaned up and then started working in the vege garden. After about 30 minutes I let the dogs out. At midday Tom and Prune packed up and left. I worked outside for most of the day and then at 3 decided I was too exhausted to continue and went inside. Aaron arrived home. He had to go straight around to Glenn’s for a tattoo session and the day’s vegetable bins needed sorting. As we unloaded the veges the dogs launched another attack. The fight was so vicious Aaron and I struggled for a long time to separate them. We kept yelling at them to stop while Mabel’s piglets freaked out on the side of the driveway and even Stanley seemed quite unsettled. Eventually Aaron managed to shut Coppa in his ute. But then, as Aaron gave Whisky a good telling off Coppa leapt from the ute and launched another attack. Again the viciousness surprised me and I could see blood was being drawn. It seemed an age before we had them separated again. I made Aaron wait while I got each of them into their runs and checked them over for injuries. I didn’t want to be left alone with them but Aaron walked back down the drive. “Have you set up the electric unit in the sheep paddock?” “No, I forgot” Aaron wasn’t pleased. He got in his ute and left. Bloody Sheep And so, with the dogs safely shut away I sorted the veges in the shed, while Mabel’s piglets ran around underneath my feet. I was tired and it seemed to take forever but eventually it was all sorted and the bins were cleaned. I redid the electric wire set-up in Phyllis’ paddock and then redid the electric wire set-up in the sheep paddock. Thyme’s ram, as cute as he is has become a complete pain in the butt. He has no respect for electric wire and roams where he pleases. Unfortunately he has taken to roaming inside the newly planted areas, where he nibbles on our native trees and seedlings. We seemed to spend a lot of the weekend running down the drive and into the planted area next to Stanley’s paddock. This free roaming and being an only lamb has given him a certain spoilt brat arrogance. I had hoped to sell him as a pet because of his good lucks and robust genes but his lack of respect for fencing or the other sheep have left us with little option but to put him in the freezer.